If Glen Ellen Star is like your favorite pair of comfy jeans, then Stella is like that new pair from the same cherished brand that’s just a touch more decked out.

The team behind that 13-year-old, Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Glen Ellen debuted its sister restaurant in Kenwood this past Saturday. The night before, I was fortunate enough to be invited in as a guest of the restaurant for a sneak peek and taste.

Both restaurants, which lean Italian with California influences, are owned and operated by Chef Ari Weiswasser, his wife Erin, and managing partners Spencer and Ashley Waite. Glen Ellen Star’s former Chef de Cuisine Bryant Minuche, who also cooked at Michelin three-starred New York City restaurants Eleven Madison Park and Le Bernardin, has stepped into that same role at Stella.

While Glen Ellen star has that cozy vibe that feels as if you’ve just stumbled upon a quaint gourmet hideaway in the woods, Stella presents a much more expansive feel with an open kitchen more than double the size, a large outdoor dining patio, and a main dining room with a fireplace, as well as a bar and chef’s counter.

Unlike Glen Ellen Star, there is no pizza on the menu here. Instead, Stella, which means “star” in Italian, boasts an expanded list of house-made fresh pastas and entrees, along with Puglia-imported mozzarella and burrata dishes made for sharing. The kitchen features a wood-fire grill that adds an irresistible kiss of smoke to many of the dishes.

Whenever I dine at Glen Ellen Star, I always order the excellent house-made bread. Thankfully, it’s also offered at Stella. On Friday night, it was a Sicilian sourdough focaccia ($14) dusted with aged Parmesan and flaky salt. It arrived hot and crusty, with a wonderful chewy crumb.

Lamb ribs ($20) get brined, braised, and grilled with peppery Roman spices and a touch of honey that adds a gentle linger of sweetness. You barely have to chew the succulent meat that slips off the bone with no effort.

I don’t know if Minuche and I had a surreptitious mind-meld moment, but when I felt a little disappointed that the yellow fin tuna crudo ($24) listed on the opening menu wasn’t available that night, the next thing I knew a sample of it was set down at the table without me having said a word. If that doesn’t take the prize for ESP service, I don’t know what does.

The lush, rosy slices of tuna are bathed in lush olive oil, dotted with salty-briny capers, and accented with juicy mandarin segments. Every component complements the fish, and makes for a thoroughly bright and refreshing dish.

With my husband being Meat Boy, I knew that when it came to the pasta offerings we would land on the rigatoncini alla bolognese ($28) made with milk-braised, ground beef, veal and pork. The large, ridged, crescent-shaped rigatoni were tender and toothsome, and substantial enough to stand up to the meaty sauce.

I’m so glad our server told us her favorite of the pastas is the tagliatelle ($26). I think it might be my new favorite now, too. Buttery tasting, silky, supple noodles arrive completely draped with large, paper-thin slices of prosciutto and a shower of 36-month-aged Parmesan. It’s an indulgent yet comforting tasting dish with the richness of the egg pasta married perfectly with the sweet porcine cured ham.

From the list of entrees, you can’t go wrong with the whole grilled dourade ($42) that is incredibly moist with just the right amount of smoke taste that doesn’t overwhelm. The fish is finished with salmoriglio, like the Italian version of Argentinian chimichurri, that’s lively with plenty of lemon juice, garlic, and herbs.

To really get a sense of what the smoke can impart, get a side of wood-grilled mushrooms ($16). Naturally earthy and foresty, they take on an even more concentrated caramelized-charred taste from the fire, then get embellished with a foamed caciocavallo, the Italian cheese shaped like a gourd, that turns especially creamy like the interior of burrata.

For dessert, it’s pretty hard not to order the playfully named Baked “Gelaska” ($16). It’s dubbed that because it features vanilla gelato instead of ice cream. Served in a chic wide brass goblet, it arrives all covered in a dome of torched marshmallow fluff. Kudos to the kitchen for really torching it, too, just like campfire marshmallows that get that perfect umber color just shy of burnt to really bring out that deep caramelized flavor.

When you dig a spoon in, you’ll discover that gelato, along with tangy raspberry sorbet, and tiny cubes of toasted sponge cake.

It’s a perfect note to end on at a place that’s sure to fit you to a “T.”

More: Dining Outside at Glen Ellen Star